Microhyla berdmorei (Blyth, 1856)

Class: Amphibia > Order: Anura > Family: Microhylidae > Subfamily: Microhylinae > Genus: Microhyla > Species: Microhyla berdmorei

Engystoma (?) berdmorei Blyth, 1856 "1855", J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 24: 720. Type(s): Not stated; ZSIC 9718–20 are syntypes according to Sclater, 1892, List Batr. Indian Mus.: 23, although Blyth provides measurements for a single specimen.  Garg, Suyesh, Das, Jiang, Wijayathilaka, Amarasinghe, Alhadi, Vineeth, Aravind, Senevirathne, Meegaskumbura, and Biju, 2018 "2019", Vert. Zool., Senckenberg, 69: 15, discussed the confusing status of types and noted that ZSI 9718–9720  (from Arakan, Myanmar, largely match the original description. Type locality: "Pegu" (= Bago), Myanmar; given as "Schwe Gyen" (= Shwegyin) on the Sitang River, Pegu [= Bago]", Myanmar by  Blyth, 1856 "1855", J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 24: 711.

Callula natatrix Cope, 1867, J. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, Ser. 2, 6: 192. Syntypes: MCZ 630, according to original publication; MCZ 1587 (5 specimens, apparently renumbered), according to Barbour and Loveridge, 1929, Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., 69: 235). Type locality: "Near Rangoon, Burmah". Synonymy by Günther, 1868, Zool. Rec., 4: 146; Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 166; Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 509.

Diplopelma (Engystoma) berdmorei — Günther, 1868, Zool. Rec., 4: 146.

Diplopelma berdmorei — Theobald, 1873, Proc. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, 1873: 112.

Microhyla (Engystoma) berdmorei — Mason, 1882, Burma, Ed. 3: 292.

Microhyla berdmorii — Boulenger, 1882, Cat. Batr. Sal. Coll. Brit. Mus., Ed. 2: 166. Incorrect subsequent spelling.

Microhyla (Engystoma) berdmorei —Boulenger In Mason, 1882, Burma, Ed. 3: 500.

Microhyla malcolmi Cochran, 1927, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 40: 182. Holotype: USNM 72172, by original designation. Type locality: "Pak Jong, Siam". Synonymy by Parker, 1928, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. 10, 2: 473–499; Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 509.

Microhyla berdmorei — Parker, 1934, Monogr. Frogs Fam. Microhylidae: 127.

Microhyla fowleri Taylor, 1934, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 86: 284. Holotype: ANSP 19903, by original designation. Type locality: "Chieng Mai, Siam [= Thailand]". Removed from the syonymy of Microhyla berdmorei by Dubois, 1987, Alytes, 6: 3, where it had been placed by Bourret, 1942, Batr. Indochine: 509, and Taylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 560. Subsequently regarded as a synonym by Matsui, 2011, Zootaxa, 2814: 33–49, although Poyarkov, Vassilieva, Orlov, Galoyan, Tran, Le, Kretova, and Geissler, 2014, Russ. J. Herpetol., 21: 89–148, cautioned that additional work was needed. 

Microhyla (Microhyla) fowleri — Dubois, 1987, Alytes, 6: 3.

Microhyla (Microhyla) bermorei — Dubois, 1987, Alytes, 6: 3.

English Names

Pegu Rice Frog (Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 90).

Berdmore's Narrow-mouthed Frog (Das and Dutta, 1998, Hamadryad, 23: 64; Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 30.

Burmese Microhylid Frog (Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 36; Neang and Holden, 2008, Field Guide Amph. Cambodia: 63).

Berdmore's Chorus Frog (Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 102; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Gururaja, and Bhatta, 2009, Rec. Zool. Surv. India, Occas. Pap., 302: 53; Dinesh, Radhakrishnan, Deepak, and Kulkarni, 2023, Fauna India Checklist, vers. 5.0 : 7).

Fowler's Rice Frog (Microhyla fowleri [no longer recognized]: Frank and Ramus, 1995, Compl. Guide Scient. Common Names Amph. Rept. World: 90).

Large Pygmy Frog (Microhyla fowleri [no longer recognized]:Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 292).

Distribution

Arunachel Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya (India) and northern Bangladesh (with isolated populations in the southeast), Yunnan (China), Myanmar, Thailand (Chiang Mai Province south to Sa Kaeo and Narathiwat provinces) and peninsular Malayia, east through Laos, most of Vietnam north of the Mekong River, and Cambodia south to peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo (Malaysia and Indonesia).

Geographic Occurrence

Natural Resident: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, People's Republic of, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Malaysia, East (Sarawak and/or Sabah), Malaysia, West (Peninsular), Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam

Comment

Subgenus Microhyla, Microhyla berdmorei group.  Heyer, 1971, Fieldiana, Zool., 58: 61–82, reported on the call from Thailand. See Berry, 1975, Amph. Fauna Peninsular Malaysia: 118–119. See comment under Microhyla fowleri. See accounts by Taylor, 1962, Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull., 43: 560–563; and Inger, 1966, Fieldiana, Zool., 52: 149–151. Choudhury, Hussain, Buruah, Saikia, and Sengupta, 2002, Hamadryad, 26: 277, Dutta, 1997, Amph. India Sri Lanka: 58–59, Chanda, 2002, Handb. Indian Amph.: 36–39, and Sarkar and Ray, 2006, In Alfred (ed.), Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, Part 1: 291, provided accounts for the Indian component of the range. See brief account and photo by Manthey and Grossmann, 1997, Amph. Rept. Südostasiens: 60. Reported for southwestern Cambodia by Ohler, Swan, and Daltry, 2002, Raffles Bull. Zool., 50: 465–481. Stuart, 1999, in Duckworth et al. (eds.), Wildlife in Lao PDR: 49, commented in the range in Laos. Chan-ard, 2003, Photograph. Guide Amph. Thailand: 102–103, provided a very brief account, map for Thailand, and photograph. Teynié, David, Ohler, and Luanglath, 2004, Hamadryad, 29: 35, commented on its distribution in Laos. Nguyen, Ho, and Nguyen, 2005, Checklist Amph. Rept. Vietnam: 44, provided specific localities for Vietnam. Stuart, 2005, Herpetol. Rev., 36: 475–476, provided specific localities for Laos. Stuart and Emmett, 2006, Fieldiana, Zool., N.S., 109: 6, provided a record for the Cardamom Mountains, southwestern Cambodia. Devi and Shamungou, 2006, J. Exp. Zool. India, 9: 317–324, provided a record for Manipur, northeastern India. Das and Dutta, 2007, Hamadryad, 31: 154–181, noted several larval descriptions in the literature of varying completeness. Neang and Holden, 2008, Field Guide Amph. Cambodia: 63, provided a photograph, brief account of identification, ecology, and range in Cambodia. Mahony, 2008, Hamadryad, 32: 34–45, reported a tentatively identified specimen from the Chittagong Hill Tract, Bangladesh, that he assumed would ultimately be named as a new species also occurring in adjacent northeastern India. Mathew and Sen, 2010, Pict. Guide Amph. NE India: 65–66, provided a brief characterization and photographs. Teynié, David, and Ohler, 2010, Zootaxa, 2416: 8, commented on the range in Sumatra. Mahony, Hasan, Kabir, Ahmed, and Hossain, 2009, Hamadryad, 34: 80–94, discussed the vouchered range in Bangladesh. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 131, detailed the distribution in Thailand. Thong-aree, Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Thailand Nat. Hist. Mus. J., 5: 99–106, reported the species from Bala Forest, Narathiwat, extreme southern Thailand. Chan-ard, Cota, and Makchai, 2011, Amph. E. Region Thailand: 1312, detailed the distribution in Thailand. Hasan, Islam, Khan, Alam, Kurabayashi, Igawa, Kuramoto, and Sumida, 2012, Zool. Sci., Tokyo, 29: 162–172, suggested on the basis of molecular evidence that samples from Bangladesh represents an unnamed species. Fei, 1999, Atlas Amph. China: 292–293, provided a brief account, figure, and map as Microhyla fowleri. Yang, 2008, in Yang and Rao (ed.), Amph. Rept. Yunnan: 124, provided a brief account as Microhyla fowleri for Yunnan, China. Fei, Hu, Ye, and Huang, 2009, Fauna Sinica, Amph. 2: 890–894, provided an account (as Microhyla fowleri), spot map for China, and assigned this species to their Microhyla butleri group. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2010, Colored Atlas of Chinese Amph.: 481, provided a brief account (as Microhyla fowleri) for China. Fei, Ye, and Jiang, 2012, Colored Atlas Chinese Amph. Distr.: 567, provided an account as Microhyla fowleri, photographs, and a range map for China. Poyarkov, Vassilieva, Orlov, Galoyan, Tran, Le, Kretova, and Geissler, 2014, Russ. J. Herpetol., 21: 142, doubted the distinctiveness of Microhyla fowleri from Microhyla berdmorei, but did not make the synonymy. Manthey and Denzer, 2014, Sauria, Berlin, 36: 3–21, provided a brief account and noted an possibly unnamed species from Khao Yai, Thailand. Sumarli, Grismer, Anuar, Muin, and Quah, 2015, Check List, 11(4, Art. 1679): 8, reported specimens from Lata Belatan and from the base of Mount Lawit, Terregganu, West Malaysia, and briefly reported on their morphology and habitat. See account, photograph, and map for Vietnam in Vassilieva, Galoyan, Poyarkov, and Geissler, 2016, Photograph. Field Guide Amph. Rept. Lowland S. Vietnam: 72–73. Do, Ngo, and Nguyen, 2017, Hue Univ. J. Sci: Nat. Sci., 126: 88–89, provided records from Phu Yen Province, southern Vietnam, and commented on coloration, range, and ecology. Firdaus, Ratih, Karima, Kusuma, and Suastika, 2018, Bioinform. Biomed. Res. J., 1: 1–6, reported on the mtDNA phylogenetic relationships of the species of Microhyla within Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and peninsular Malaysia, placing this species Microhyla achatina + (Microhyla mantheyi + Microhyla borneensis + (Microhyla mantheyi + (Microhyla borneensis + Microhyla malang))). Haas, Kueh, Joseph, bin Asri, Das, Hagmann, Schwander, and Hertwig, 2018, Evol. Syst., 2: 89–114, provided a brief account of morphology and natural history for the Sabah population. Mulcahy, Lee, Miller, Chand, Thura, and Zug, 2018, ZooKeys, 757: 95, provided a record from Taninthary Division, southern Myanmar. Garg, Suyesh, Das, Jiang, Wijayathilaka, Amarasinghe, Alhadi, Vineeth, Aravind, Senevirathne, Meegaskumbura, and Biju, 2018 "2019", Vert. Zool., Senckenberg, 69: 1–71, considered this to be a member of the Microhyla berdmorei species group and they provided an account, noting that Microhyla fowleri may be distinct pending additional genetic sampling. See comments by Geissler, Hartmann, Ihlow, Neang, Seng, Wagner, and Böhme, 2019, Cambodian J. Nat. Hist., 2019: 40–63, on specimens collected in Phnom Kulen National Park, northern Cambodia. Niyomwan, Srisom, and Pawangkhanant, 2019, Field Guide Amph. Thailand: 222–223, provided a brief account (photographs, habitat, and range) for Thailand (in Thai). Ahmad and Mim, 2020, IRCF Rept. & Amph., 27: 36–41, reported specimens from the Bandarban District, southeastern Bangladesh. Gorin, Solovyeva, Hasan, Okamiya, Karunarathna, Pawangkhanant, de Silva, Juthong, Milto, Nguyen, Suwannapoom, Haas, Bickford, Das, and Poyarkov, 2020, PeerJ, 8 (e9411): 1–47, placed this species in their Microhyla berdmorei group and noted that it is a complex of cryptic species; unfortunately the typical population probably retaining Microhyla fowleri. See comments by Hakim, Trageser, Ghose, Das, Rashid, and Rahman, 2020, Check List, 16: 1239–1268, who reported the species from Lawachara National Park, Sylhet Division, northeastern Bangladesh. Makchai, Chuaynkern, Safoowong, Chuachat, and Cota, 2020, Amph. N. Thailand: 116, provided a brief account, photographs, and a range map for Thailand. Kundu, Lalremsanga, Biakzuala, Decemson, Muansanga, Tyagi, Chandra, and Kumar, 2021, MtDNA, Part B, 6: 1586–1591, demonstrated high genetic distances among geographic samples, suggesting strongly that this taxon is a species complex. Gorin, Scherz, Korost, and Poyarkov, 2021, Zoosyst. Evol., 97 : supplementary information, provided genetically-confirmed records from Bangladesh, peninsular Malaysia (Selangor), Sumatra, Borneo (Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia; Kalimantan, Indonesia), Thailand (Suratthani and Phrae provinces), Vietnam (Tay Ninh, Lam Dong, and Kon Tum provinces), Laos (Khammouan).  Zug, 2022, Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 653: 30, briefly discussed identification, habitat, and range in Myanmar. Haas, Das, Hertwig, Bublies, and Schulz-Schaeffer, 2022, Guide to the Tadpoles of Borneo: 304–305, summarized the knowledge of habitat, reproduction, larval morphology and coloration. Raj, Vasudevan, Aggarwal, Dutta, Sahoo, Mahapatra, Sharma, Janani, Kar, and Dubois, 2023, Alytes, 39–40: 57–61, reported on larval morphology of genetically-confirmed specimens from Mizoram, India.

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